Inferno Reborn
by Belladonna-Veilsin
Summary: An extremely odd encounter with Hotstreak leaves Static reeling. Francis appears to be cleaning up his act, but Virgil isn't sure if this is real, or anything he should trust. Can anyone truly change? Can fire do anything but destroy? Virgil/Francis
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, StaticXHotStreak. And Francis is possibly more than a little OOC. But hopefully not disgustingly so. Also, I exchange names and aliases at will.**

(-)

Virgil was exhausted. All he wanted to do was crawl into the old gas station and die quietly. But Richie had just informed him that Hotstreak was wreaking havoc in a park while the fire men were putting out a house fire across town. And Gear was busy stopping a Bang-Baby rampage in a shopping mall. So instead of crawling off for a long sleep, Static got on his disk and headed to the scene.

When he got there, he could tell that something was different about this rampage. Nearly everything in the park was charred or burning at one place or another, and Francis stood in the middle, a bonfire engulfing his form. There were no people, but he continued to melt swingsets and set trees alight as if he had something to prove.

Virgil tried to slowly lower his disk down, but he was so tired he ended up losing control of his disk and crashing down instead. "Shit." he cursed, as Hotstreak approached.

"What's wrong, Static?" Hotstreak taunted. "You aren't quite so graceful today."

"Shut up, Hotstreak."

There was an unusually cruel look on Francis's face as he replied, "Bad news for you, I'm just getting started."

Virgil groaned and turned over. This had been a bad idea. Francis seemed to have extra fuel for his fire, so to speak, while Virgil was drained. Hotstreak was maintaining a distance that Virgil could feel his fire, but it was merely a comfortable warmth. That made Virgil sleepy. As he started to doze off, he heard Francis make an impatient noise. "I wanted to fight too. Stupid weakling."

(-)

When Virgil woke up, he was underground. It looked like an old subway station. He was on a small cot inside one of the ticket booths. He remembered the not-fight with Hotstreak and felt a stab of panic, but he felt fine. He wasn't restrained and his mask was still on. Of course, Francis could have snuck a peek when Virgil was unconscious. That was still something to be wary of.

Virgil was confused. Why would Hotstreak take him somewhere if not to unmask or detain and torment him? He had seemed pretty pissed off when Static couldn't fight him. Was this a trap? Was it a trick?

"Hey, Mr. Dead-Battery. You awake?" Francis's voice floated in through the open door and a moment later he entered, looking rather sullen.

"Yes. And rather apprehensive." Virgil admitted.

"Wha-?"

"Nervous and expectant." Virgil clarified.

"I'm not stupid." Hotstreak fumed. His famous temper seemed to have a shorter fuse than normal today.

"Didn't say you were. So what's going on?"

"What do you mean, 'what's going on'?"

"Well, I was really expecting to wake up with my mask off and restrained in some manner, if I woke up at all." Virgil told him.

Francis frowned fiercely at him. "Just because you're a goody-two-shoes who follows every rule doesn't mean that people who don't care about the law don't have limits. Killing a weak and unconscious opponent is pathetic, unless I was the one that made them that way. And unmasking you while you're asleep is just as gutless. If I take off your mask, I want to have beat you senseless to earn it."

In his surprise, Virgil's eyebrows attempted to escape all the way up to his hairline. "Well. Guess I underestimated you." He paused for a moment. "You really didn't look?"

Hotstreak smirked at him. "Why? Would I have liked what I saw?"

Virgil took that as a no, but replied, "I couldn't tell you."

"Sure you could. You could take off your mask right now and we could find out." Francis said, almost teasingly.

"But you wouldn't have earned it." Virgil pointed out.

Hotstreak eyed his rival with an evaluating gaze. "You're not quite up to snuff for me to beat you up."

"That's the only way you earn things?"

Hotstreak rolled his eyes. "That and burn shit up mostly, where have _you_ been?"

"Point." Virgil conceded. "But if you aren't stupid, I'm sure you can figure out other ways too, ones that don't involve brute force."

Eyes narrowing, Hotstreak asked, "Is that a challenge?"

Virgil couldn't help but smile a bit, for some reason. "Would you be up to it?"

Francis frowned thoughtfully. "What kind of ways could we be talking about? Are there rules?"

Virgil blinked. Francis was giving thought to this before he charged ahead. Weird. "I'm not sure. I thought the challenge was for you to figure that out."

Francis thought some more. "I think I could get you. But what's fair game?"

"I thought if you earned something, that meant you did it fair and square." Virgil shrugged.

"Okay. I'll work on it and we'll see." Francis said, a slightly sly grin on his face.

"Wait, how did we get from 'where the hell am I' to 'find a fair way to unmask me'?" Virgil wondered.

Hotstreak shrugged. "Not sure. But now you're giving me ideas. You can leave if you want to. I don't care if you know where I live."

"Won't you have warrants out after the park?" Static asked skeptically.

Another shrug. "I think I might have to do some time before I can enact my new plan."

He could have knocked Virgil over with a feather after he said that. "You aren't turning yourself in." It was a statement, filled with both conviction and disbelief.

"Why not? I was getting bored with the same old stuff. This will be interesting."

"Don't take this the wrong way, because it sounds fairly insulting, but you're showing depth, and it's kinda blowing my mind." Virgil said, trying to keep his tone non-offensive.

And he got another shock. Hotstreak laughed. "You know, you have a surprising black and white view of the world, no pun intended. Just because I'm violent and aggressive doesn't mean that's all there is to me."

"I suppose not." Virgil admitted reluctantly. This was too strange. There had to be something wrong here.

"So what do you say?" Francis asked, sounding impatient. "You going to help me turn myself in?"

Virgil just blinked stupidly for a second or two, then said, "You want me to take you? Won't you lose cred or whatever?"

"I don't need the approval of others to do what I want. You know that. Also, if you testify that I cooperated, it might cut down my sentence. I also don't want to be sprayed with fire extinguishers the moment I approach a police officer." Francis said. It made sense. It made way too much sense.

Virgil gave Francis a hard look. "Why are you doing this? Is this a game? I don't buy that you would do _all of this_ because you were bored."

Francis smirked. "Maybe you'll have to earn that knowledge."

Feeling annoyed, Virgil stated, "I don't intend to let you unmask me. I'll fight you."

Francis's grin grew wider. "Oh, that would make things _really_ interesting."

Virgil rolled his eyes, and said, "Come on, let's get this crazy shit over with."

(-)

Francis's sentence was only a few months, which was very lenient, considering the damage he had caused. For once, Virgil made sure he knew what day Francis got out on, and marked it on his calendar. He knew something would happen that day.

But for those few months, Virgil tried not to think about the pyromaniac, not wanting to closely examine this..._thing_ Hotstreak was doing before it really began. It was _way_ too weird.

Virgil had told Richie everything about it, and when the day arrived that Francis was released from prison, they were very vigilant during school hours and spent extra time patrolling that afternoon and evening.

"I don't understand, Rich, what's he waiting for? I was expecting at least a few fires, maybe a couple of explosions." Virgil said, lying on his bed and talking through his Shock Box. It was late, and he should be getting some sleep, but he was still wary of whatever Francis might be up to.

"Well, you stipulated earning it through means other than force. If he really wants to win, he wouldn't want to start a bunch of trouble." Richie replied.

"I guess." Virgil sighed.

"You almost sound disappointed, V. You miss fighting Francis?"

"No!" Virgil objected, sounding very defensive.

Richie chuckled. "Get some sleep, V. Maybe he was prepping for an evil plan tomorrow. Don't want to be tired."

"Thanks, that thought makes me feel better." Virgil rolled his eyes. "Night, Rich."

He set his Shock Box aside and rolled onto his side, still feeling uneasy and curious as to the pyromaniac Bang-Baby's next move.

(-)

Virgil closed his locker with unnecessary force and said, "He's got to do something today. You're right, he must have been prepping yesterday...but for what?"

It was before school and he and Richie were discussing Hotstreak. Richie had lamented that Francis had been let out during school hours, so they couldn't tail him to see where he went after he was free.

"Uh, V?" Richie said, eyes wide as he looked over Virgil's shoulder. "I think he's made his move. And it seems pretty crazy."

Virgil turned to look. Francis was just a few lockers down, putting books in his locker and taking out a _notebook_. Head spinning, Virgil asked, "He's at _school_? Attending _**class**_? Taking _**notes**_?"

"I think I might be sick." Richie said, only mostly joking.

They weren't the only ones who had noticed Hotstreak's presence. Most of the hallway was shooting covert glances, if not outright staring, and whispering about him. Virgil saw a couple of kids hovering anxiously nearby, who probably had lockers near the Bang-Baby, but were too afraid to approach them while he was there.

"_This_ is his big plan? _This_ was what he turned himself in for? An _education_?" Virgil was still dumbfounded by this new development.

"Well, he couldn't go to public school if they had warrants for him." Richie pointed out. "So if part of his plan was coming here, he'd have to serve his time first."

"Think he'll last the day before he burns something down?" Virgil asked, calming himself. He was now trying to take it in stride, and he reasoned that Francis wouldn't be able to stay out of trouble for too long. He had a really bad temper.

"C'mon, V, let's get to class." Richie said, steering the hero away from his rival.

Virgil spent all of first hour waiting for sounds of mayhem and chaos to start. They didn't. Richie wasn't concerning himself as much as Virgil was, but then, Static was the one Hotstreak wanted to unmask, not Gear. Though it was obvious that once Static's identity was known, Gear's would be a given shortly after.

Second hour was one of Virgil's classes without Richie, an English class. And _before_ the bell rang, Francis walked into class, carrying his book and notebook and looking annoyed. The desk next to Virgil was free. When Hotstreak sat down, Virgil thought of something. Was Francis guessing that he went to school with Static? Maybe he wanted to sort through the students to figure out who was likely to be Static. Virgil would be in that fairly small group, and one of the more obvious candidates.

Francis sat through the class discussion, continuing to look annoyed. Virgil wondered why. He had seemed eager to enact his plan when last Virgil saw him. Granted, that was three months ago that Francis spent locked up in a cell, but Virgil didn't know what would annoy the redhead that wouldn't drive him to arson. He had always had a ridiculously short temper.

Virgil spent most of that hour in his own world, until the bell rang and the teacher dismissed them, adding, "And if you'd like to talk about catching up with the class, Francis, feel free."

Virgil took his time with gathering his things as Francis approached the teacher. Virgil thought Ms. Peach was ridiculously brave before he remembered that she was new. She probably had never witnessed one of Francis's rampages on campus.

But Hotstreak was talking to the teacher, seemingly cooperatively, so Virgil headed out before his lingering made him look suspicious. "Hey, Hawkins." Francis said, and Virgil froze at the door.

Virgil turned slowly. "Yeah?"

"You should help me catch up on some of this grammar stuff. If you want." Francis said. He looked a bit sullen at asking, but Virgil didn't think Ms. Peach had prompted him to.

"Um, okay." Virgil said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Cool." Francis said, the smallest look of relief on his face. "You want to work after school?"

Was it a trap? It didn't seem like Virgil had much choice. "Sure. Meet me in the courtyard?"

"Okay." Francis said, and added, "Uh, thanks."

"Yeah." Virgil said noncommittaly, feeling awkward.

Ms. Peach smiled at him. "Thank you, Virgil, it's nice to see students working together."

Oh, yeah, you could tell she was new now. Virgil just gave her a close-lipped smile, nodded, and left. He found Richie at his locker, and said, "Francis just asked me to tutor him in English! Do you think he's onto me?"

Richie's eyes went wide. "Maybe. You should be very careful. But you might also use this as an opportunity to see what he's up to. Virgil Hawkins would be very curious about what Francis is playing at by coming back to school and actually attending, even if he isn't Static Shock. So superhero identity or no, I'd ask a few innocuous questions."

Virgil sighed. "I just knew you'd say that. Can you handle the after-school patrol by yourself?"

"Don't insult me. Of course I can." Richie scoffed, affecting lofty arrogance.

Chuckling, Virgil replied, "Let's get to Chemistry."

Virgil had two more classes with Francis, which seemed a bit strange given that Virgil was an honor student, whereas Virgil assumed Francis hadn't completed any courses since he became a Bang-Baby. Of course one of those classes was PE (which obviously didn't rely on intelligence to place students), and Francis had played soccer with a ferocity unmatched by the other players, and since his opponents seemed afraid to approach him too closely, he won their team the game.

Feeling nervous, Virgil waited at a picnic table in the courtyard for Francis. He really hoped that the redhead hadn't already learned his identity and was using this meeting as an excuse to call him out. A few minutes later, Francis showed up and sat down, the backpack he carried nearly bursting with books.

"Now I remember why I gave up on this crap. Too complicated." Francis griped by way of greeting.

"Hello to you too." Virgil said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, hi." Francis said, not too bothered by his belated manners.

"So you wanted help with grammar. But it looks like you have a fair amount of catch-up work to do." Virgil noted.

"Obviously. What's your point?" Francis asked.

"Well, time allowing, I might be able to help you a bit in those as well. I can't promise you a lot of help, my scheduling is crazy, but I could at least get you started." Virgil said. When the bad-tempered Bang-Baby had arrived loaded down with work, Virgil felt kinda sorry for him. He wouldn't let it cloud his judgment, but he figured a bit of help couldn't hurt.

Francis just blinked at him for a few moments, looking confused. "Why? Why would you help me?"

Virgil shrugged. "I don't know. Why did you choose me to ask in the first place?"

Francis frowned in thought, then said, "You were the nicest smart guy I picked on. I figured you'd be the least likely to hold a strong grudge."

Virgil snorted. Yeah, if that was Hotstreak's reasoning, he probably didn't know Virgil was Static. "Well maybe I'm offering my help because I'm a smart nice guy." Virgil said, a note of humor evident in his tone.

Francis didn't say anything to that, and after several moments of tense silence, Virigil asked, "If you don't mind me asking, why are you in school and actually _doing_ schoolwork?"

"There's something I want, and this is part of getting it." Francis told him with a shrug.

Virgil tried to look puzzled, but he was kind of shocked that Francis had told him something so direct. Hotstreak wanted to unmask Static. And going to school was going to help him accomplish it how?

"Um, okay, whatever. Let's get to work on English. How many grammar worksheets do you have left to do?" Virgil asked, opening his own English book.

"Only a hundred." Francis groaned, opening his bag and pulling out lots of papers.

"They don't take too long once you know how to handle their subject. And I can help with that." Virgil assured him.

They worked on English, moved onto History, and completed a Biology take-home quiz before Virgil called it quits. "My pops will be wondering where I am." he said, feeling a bit guilty. It was a misleading statement; his dad would be wondering, but Virgil was usually out and about, so it wouldn't be an issue unless it got very late.

"Okay." Francis agreed. "Uh...thanks for all the help, Virgil." He wouldn't meet Virgil's eyes as he said it, and he looked resentful at forcing himself to say it.

"You're welcome." Virgil said, grinning. "I'll see you later, Hotstreak."

(-)

"So he told you that school is part of his plan to get what he wants?" Richie asked. Virgil had gone to the Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude to meet up with Gear after his patrol, and Richie was fiddling with his inventions.

"Yeah. I think he figured out that Static goes to our school, and is trying to narrow down the possibilities." Virgil told him.

"That would be bad, V." Richie said seriously. "If he asked you specifically to help him, he probably has you high on his list of suspects."

"Well, even if he thinks that Virgil is Static, he has to fight Static to unmask him. I'm not gonna let him win." Virgil said with determination.

"I kinda think there's more to this than we know." Richie said, his face troubled. "And it sounds like he isn't planning on fighting you, at least not now."

"What makes you say that?" Virgil wondered.

"This whole thing is very atypical behavior for Hotstreak, so I think we can only expect atypical planning. Meaning Hotstreak doesn't want to burn things, beat people up, or generally cause havoc." Richie explained.

"But what do you mean 'more to it'?" Virgil clarified.

Richie frowned, seeming to think of the best way to describe his hunch. "Hotstreak is going to a lot of trouble to seemingly reform himself. This can't be _just_ a plan to discover your identity because he's _bored_, V."

"Guess that's true. He's up to something else." Virgil agreed. "Agh! This is making me paranoid!"

Richie grinned a bit a Virgil's frustration. "Okay, we don't need to worry about his deeper motives yet. Let's just remain vigilant and keep our options open."

"Sounds like a game plan, Gear." Virgil sighed. But he still couldn't stop thinking about Francis.

(-)

**I know Hotstreak was very OOC, but hopefully it is decent anyway. And hopefully I'll have him display more temper in future chapters, if they exist. Also, he got a ridiculously light sentence for all the damage he did, I am aware. Let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I gotta figure out the pace of this, since I mostly know the direction.**

(-)

An odd uneasy pattern followed in the next week, with Virgil handing after-school patrol to Richie every other day so he could tutor Francis.

During one of the days where he wasn't tutoring Francis, he happened to pass by the gym on his way off campus and noticed Francis with some other known bullies in the shadows beside it. Suspicion immediately demanding he investigate, Virgil crept closer to listen.

"When did F-stop become such a pussy, huh?" Virgil's eyebrows shot up upon hearing that statement. It was Howard Johnson, senior and blow-hard bully extraordinaire. It looked like he and his crew were taunting Francis. For what purpose, Virgil couldn't fathom. Francis was a Bang-Baby, and one known for igniting people who made him mad.

"When did you grow a pair, Johnson?" Francis replied, an irritated frown already settled firmly on his face.

"I'm not afraid of pansy has-beens." Howard replied.

"You'd be afraid of daffodils, chump." It looked like Francis was trying not to think about the situation so he could keep his temper.

"He probably sucked too much cock when he was locked up. Doesn't know what to do anymore without a dick in his mouth." one of Howard's cronies, Blake Radford added.

Francis's fists went white as he clenched them, and his eye started to twitch. Virgil took these signs as a subtle hint that Francis was close to losing it. What the hell did Howard and his friends think they would gain from this?

"Good point." Howard agreed. "Found anyone out here willing to fuck you yet?"

Virgil moved before Francis did, though he could see the imminent violence in the pyromaniac's stance. "Hey, guys, am I too late for the tea and cookies?" Virgil asked, coming around the corner and into their view. They all turned to look at him. Francis's eyes went wide and his face showed blatant dismay.

"The hell you talking about?" Blake demanded.

"This _is_ Lady Johnson's Tea Party for Bullies, right? Or was the address wrong on my invitation? I know you guys are mad that Francis showed up without an invite, but I'm sure if you explain that it was just a mailing error, he'll forgive you for excluding him." Virgil said. This was stupid, and he knew it, but he didn't like bullies, and he had accidentally bumped the button that put his mouth on "smart-ass auto-pilot".

On the other hand, they _had_ all ignored Francis to turn to him. "Hawkins, you better walk away, right now." Howard said, menace in his posture and threat in his tone.

"I just wanted to remind Francis of his appointment. He's got better things to do and more intelligent people to see." Virgil said. He spoke past them to Francis, "We're doing math today, right?"

Francis frowned for a moment, but picked up his bag and replied, "Yeah, numbers and all that jazz." He pushed past Howard, his glare at the boy daring him to say something.

The bullies let Francis and Virgil leave, though Virgil was sure it was far from over. They hadn't planned to study that day, and they didn't say anything until Virgil stopped across the street from Burger Fool. "Um, want a burger? My treat." Virgil said.

Francis gave him a supremely confused look, but nodded. They went inside, and once they were seated with their food, Francis asked, "What was that about?"

"What do you mean?" Virgil shrugged. "I got a big mouth and don't like bullies. Remember how _we_ used to not get along so well? That was why."

A sour smile crawled onto Francis's face. "And now you're defending me from bullies. That's irony, right?"

"Yeah, nice job with paying attention to literature class." Virgil said, grinning.

"Now that I'm not causing a lot of trouble and trying to _not_ fight people, jerk-offs like that guy are trying to make a rep for themselves by beating me up." Francis said after a few moments of silence.

"Were you going to let them?" Virgil asked quietly.

A scowl crossed Francis's face. "I think you know. There was a reason you interrupted when you did."

"I could tell there was about to be some bully barbeque spread out on the lawn, yeah." Virgil said. "But up to that point you were doing a great job of keeping your temper. They just took it over the line."

Francis didn't say anything to that, but his face became slightly red. They ate for another minute or so before he said, "Thanks, Virgil."

Virgil dropped a fry halfway to his mouth, blinked at Francis, but then recovered and said, "Not a problem."

He paused to think for a few moments, then asked, "If they hadn't made those last few comments, would you have fought them?"

The red crept onto Francis's face again. "I don't know. I really didn't want to because I know it wouldn't take much for me to go back to jail. They'll look for any excuse."

Virgil did _not_ want to address the questions going through his mind right then. Had Francis been raped? Is that why he reacted so strongly to those taunts? Would it have to have been rape? Could Francis be gay?

"Well, my sister's boyfriend had a bit of an uphill climb with the whole 'reformed Bang-Baby' thing too." Virgil said, before he thought it through. No need to call attention to his connection with Adam. Too late.

"Wait, who's your sister's boyfriend?" Francis asked, looking slightly confused and very curious.

"Rubber-Band Man." Virgil said shortly. "I was kind of skeptical about him being reformed, at least at the start, but he's grown on me." He grinned at Francis.

"Oh, that's a pun, right? Because he stretches?" Francis asked.

"Yeah. You really are getting the hang of those literature terms."

"It's easier than math and science."

"Well, I imagine you should have a good grasp of those too. You throw fire around, so it would be important for you to know the possible chemical consequences of tossing it around in certain areas or near certain things, I imagine." Virgil pointed out.

"True. Especially once I start using my powers again." Francis noted.

Virgil stiffened nervously, trying not to show his sudden apprehension. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I'll have to be careful." Francis said, not elaborating.

Virgil burned to ask more, but he was fairly certain that was Static. Virgil Hawkins would leave Francis to take care of his own business. The Shock Box vibrating silently in his pocket saved him from the decision.

Sliding out of the booth, Virgil said, "I'll be right back."

When he was in the single men's restroom and had locked the door, he pulled out the Shock Box and said, "Hey, Gear. I am _**so**_ glad you installed a vibrate feature for these."

"Where are you? We were supposed to start our patrol 15 minutes ago." Richie complained.

"Um, a code red came up." Virgil said, for some reason feeling a bit uneasy about telling Richie about the situation with Francis.

"Code red? Do you mean Hotstreak?"

"Yes, but I guess it isn't a code red. Maybe a code mauve or code lavender, or maybe a code rainbow-Hell, I don't know what color this code is!" Virgil fumed. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?

"Um, maybe you should ditch the code then." Richie suggested. "What's up?"

"I saw an incident occurring with Francis and I went to check it out. I ended up helping him avoid losing his temper and charbroiling Howard Johnson and his lackeys. We're at Burger Fool right now."

"You're at Burger Fool with Hotstreak? When the hell did you two become so tight?" Richie demanded, sounding both disbelieving and outraged.

"I don't know what's going on with him, Rich. He was just saying something about having to be more careful when he starts using his powers again. I can't figure him out at all." Virgil admitted.

"Well if you want keep an eye on him for now, I'll start the patrol by myself. You can probably catch up later." Richie said with a sigh.

Virgil grinned. "Thanks, Rich, you've always got my back. I'll try to take more patrols after this."

"Sure, sure." Richie scoffed, but Virgil could hear his smile. "Gear, over and out."

Pocketing his Shock Box, Virgil washed his hands quickly, dried them, then unlocked the bathroom door and went back to the booth. Francis was shamelessly stealing his fries. He didn't even stop when Virgil sat down.

"I guess being an inferno means you need a lot of fuel." Virgil said dryly.

"Well, I _do_ burn a lot more calories than I did before the Big Bang." Francis agreed.

"Makes sense I guess. Do you have a higher body temperature than normal?" Virgil wondered.

"Yeah. And I don't feel hot. When other people are baking in the sun, I'm swimming in a cool oasis." Francis said with a grin.

"So you're a human solar-panel too. Cool. Metaphorically speaking." Virgil added.

Francis looked at him for a moment. "'Cool'? That's it? I'm a freak. People just aren't okay with 'human solar-panel's."

Thinking it was an allusion to him being Static, Virgil tried not to show how nervous he was. "Why not?"

"Because they aren't! Aside from the super-hero metahumans, Bang-Babies are considered dangerous, even if they aren't doing anything. Being neutral doesn't mean a damn thing. When weird shit goes down around you, even if nothing gets damaged and no trouble is caused, people fear you."

The vehemence in Francis's voice caught Virgil by surprise. "Then they're stupid. Or more accurately, they're people, and people are stupid and fear what they don't understand."

Francis looked even more upset by that for some strange reason. "Hawkins, you don't make any damn sense!" He got up and grabbed his bag, shaking his head before he left.

"Rude. And '_**I**_' don't make any damn sense? That hothead seems to be more than a few matches short of a box. Hmph." Then Virgil remembered that he had promised to catch up with Richie, so he left Burger Fool and went to find a safe place to change.

(-)

"So he only ran out because you were accepting of the fact that he's a Bang-Baby?" Gear asked as they flew above the city, looking for signs of an incident.

"Yeah, which is unfathomable, apparently." Static scoffed.

"Think about it. To him, it might be. He doesn't know you're a Bang-Baby, and since he got out of prison, I'm sure he's met with all types of suspicion and hostility." Gear pointed out.

"I guess that's true." Static hummed thoughtfully. "But since he said that thing about using his powers again, I'm back to worrying about what his overall plan is."

"Well, it'll have to be something unexpected and nonviolent." Gear hypothesized.

A burning flare shone in one of the seedier neighborhoods, and Static asked, "You were saying?"

They headed towards the flame, and found Hotstreak in a confrontation with what looked like a mugger on the street. Static spotted a woman watching from the corner of a building, and he spotted a purse on the ground, presumably the woman's.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Static said to Gear.

"Let's stay back for now. See what he does." Gear said. They moved to a rooftop with a good view.

"Now a real man doesn't need to prey on women to earn a living. How pathetic are you?" Francis asked. The scorch marks on the sidewalk indicated that he had blasted fire near the mugger's feet, forcing him to back up. Now he just had flaming hands and an intimidating posture.

The mugger looked properly cowed and terrified. "This can go two ways. You can resist me and make me chase you down and beat you into submission, or you could just let me zip-tie your hands and wait for the cops. And I'd hate to have to hunt you down if you ran after I left. I might have to burn you so you'd listen in the future."

Eyes wide, the mugger put out his hands together, like he was letting the cops cuff him. Francis slipped a large zip tie around the man's wrists and tightened it. "A wise decision." he assured the mugger.

He picked up the woman's purse and brought it back to her. She cautiously came out from her hiding place. "Um, here's your purse. I think I might have scorched the bottom a little. Sorry about that. Do you have a cell phone?"

She nodded slowly, still seemingly wary. "Okay, you'll want to call the cops then. This isn't the most upstanding neighborhood, and I'm not sure anyone in the buildings around us would bother. I can wait for a while until they come, but once they start getting closer, I'd prefer to be elsewhere." Hotstreak told her.

That seemed to give her her voice back. "Why?"

Francis sighed. "I have a bad rep to beat, and if the cops show up, I'm likely to get hosed down with fire extinguishers whether I've done anything bad or not. I like avoiding that; it's pretty gross."

She blinked at him. "So what do I tell the police?"

Francis shrugged. "The truth. If they want to ask me about it, my parole officer has my address. Like I said, I just want to avoid reactionary firefighting."

"Um...okay. Thank you." she said, sounding very bewildered, but she offered him a small smile.

"Not a problem." Hotstreak assured her, and he went to keep an eye on the mugger as she pulled out her phone.

Static and Gear exchanged wide-eyed baffled glances. "Do we get involved?" Static wondered.

Gear considered it for a moment. "Once Francis leaves. I can keep an eye on the mugger and handle PR for Hotstreak, and you can follow him and talk to him about what he's up to."

"Sounds like a plan." Static agreed.

When police sirens became audible, Francis nodded respectfully at the woman and gave the mugger a warning glare before setting off at a brisk pace. Once he was around the corner and out of her line of sight, he broke into a light jog. Static covertly shadowed him for a while until Francis stopped and sat on an empty crate abandoned on the sidewalk. He took a deep breath and his exhale seemed a bit shaky to Virgil as he rode his disk down to the sidewalk.

Hotstreak only seemed mildly surprised to see him. "Hiya, Static." he said tiredly. "Didn't think you'd catch up that fast. Gonna zap me?"

Static just stared at him silently for a moment, and then asked, "Zip-ties?"

Hotstreak grinned, seemingly pleased with his non-hostile response. "I saw them use those on a TV show."

"Interesting. So this was your big plan? You did your time so you could go to school and be a super-hero? I don't think that's gonna unmask me." Static said.

Francis shrugged. "It doesn't have to be anytime soon."

Static blinked at him. "That's not going to unmask me." he repeated.

"Whatever. How did you know I was going to school?" Francis wondered.

Poker face and hero mask, don't fail him now. "Unlike you, I have a working relationship with law enforcement officials. Since your parole officer knows you're going to school, so do a lot of other people." Virgil hoped that was a good enough lie to stop the questions.

Francis coolly assessed him. "If you aren't planning to detain me officially, was there anything else?"

Static shrugged. "Just letting you know Gear is handling the police and the PR at your mugging."

One eyebrow raised in question, Francis asked, "Why?"

"Maybe he thinks you might be serious about this."

"What do _you_ think?"

"I'm not sure what to think." Virgil admitted.

Francis just looked at him then, and though Static was waiting for him to say something, he didn't. He just kept watching the hero, intent on something Static couldn't interpret. It started to make him uncomfortable.

"Um, Hotstreak, I don't know much about any of this, but I'm going to give you the benefit of a doubt for now. We can see how things go from here." Static said, stepping back onto his disk.

Francis smirked at him. "Guess I'll have to be on my best behavior."

"That sounds like 'a wise decision'." Static said with a smirk of his own, deliberately echoing what Hotstreak had said to the mugger.

Hotstreak frowned at that. "You never will believe that I've changed, will you?"

Static rolled his eyes. "I suppose it _could_ happen. Nice job with that mugger. Effective use and control of force; they aren't shipping the guy off to the Burn Ward at the hospital."

Francis blinked at the unexpected praise. "...thanks."

"Keep your kiln closed, Hotstreak, and I think you'll be okay." Static said, grinning as he started to fly away.

Hotstreak stood and shouted after him, "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Virgil looked over his shoulder, and Francis was scowling and looked intensely uncomfortable. What was wrong with him? He headed back towards the mugging and Gear intercepted him before he got into view. "The media got wind of this, V. I already told the cops what happened, but the news reporters got a statement out of me too. Francis is going to get a bit of fame for this."

"I just keep getting more and more confused. I don't know what happened to him before he started torching the park, but it must have been something major." Virgil observed as they bypassed the mugging scene and headed back towards the Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude.

"To have caused this dramatic a change in him, you're probably right." Richie agreed.

"I need to come up with a more pro-active plan. I'm tired of sitting around being stumped."

"Get closer to Francis when you're Virgil. He'll have his guard down a bit more than when you're Static." Richie said, shrugging at the obvious course.

"That's still pretty dangerous."

"Unless he starts threatening his study-buddy with fire, I think it won't be anything Virgil can't handle."

Virgil rolled his eyes. "That's all I need; to get attacked while I have to act normal. How much better could it get than that?"

(-)

**So hopefully you enjoyed that chapter. Weird place to end it, but I didn't think I was finding a better one. Plus, hopefully a good tie-in for the next chapter. Let me know what you think. And I was also wondering about giving Hotstreak a different handle for his new super hero persona. Would that be lame because it isn't cannon, cool, or would it depend on the name?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Can haz third chapter.**

(-)

Virgil woke up and went down to breakfast to find the news giving a very pertinent report. Gear was on screen. "_No, Hotstreak got this guy. Looks like he wants try to be a super hero now._"

"Well, it's good to see that." Sharon said, eating a bite from her bowl of Honeynut Cheerios.

"See what?" Virgil asked, getting his own bowl and spoon.

"Another Bang-Baby cleaning up his act. Adam paved the way, so I was hoping some of the delinquents would follow his lead." Sharon said, sounding rather smug.

"_Follow-up investigation led our reporter to the residence of Hotstreak, who was not feeling friendly towards our questions._" the anchor continued as the feed switched to a video of Hotstreak glaring at the camera. Virgil sat down and started pouring his cereal, attention rapt on the TV.

"_Get that away from me! Haven't you people heard of privacy?_" the pyromaniac demanded.

"_With stopping this mugging, are you really making a bid to become a super hero?_" the on-site reporter asked, holding her microphone out to him. Virgil nearly spilled the milk he was pouring onto his cereal at Hotstreak's next comment.

"_What? That j****** was trying to take the lady's purse. I stopped him. Why wouldn't I?_"

"_Well, until now you've mostly been on the other side of the law. Are you turning over a new leaf?_"

Francis smirked at the lady. "_I'm not burning you and your annoying cameraman to cinders, now am I?_"

As the anchor started speaking again, Virgil shook his head in disbelief. "They went to Francis's _house_? I wonder if they get hazard pay for that kind of thing."

"'Francis'?" Sharon asked. "Since when are you so tight with that guy? Didn't he beat you up a lot _before_ the Big Bang?"

Virgil rolled his eyes. "He asked me for help getting caught up on all the schoolwork he missed while he was out causing chaos and being locked up."

He felt ridiculously confused when Sharon gave him a warm smile. "Aw, Virgil! You're being the bigger man! I'm so proud of you, little brother." She got up and gave Virgil a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"Hey, cut it out! I can't handle canine slobber this early in the morning!" Virgil protested. Sharon rolled her eyes at him and left the kitchen.

Virgil was really getting annoyed with constantly wondering about Francis. As he got dressed and went to meet Richie to go to school, he couldn't stop thinking about Francis's odd moods and cryptic statements. This meant he wasn't paying attention when someone pulled him into an alley and shoved him against the brick wall.

"Hey, Hawkins." Howard Johnson said in a low, threatening voice. "I think I owe you something for yesterday."

Virgil looked at him and then at his assorted thugs. "Well, this surprise party is a great way to say 'I'm sorry' but you really need a cake."

He was trying to come to a quick decision, of course. He couldn't zap these guys, that was certain, but that didn't mean he couldn't defend himself. He really didn't want to start his day with a trip to the nurse or possibly the ER.

Of course his comment made Howard slam him into the wall again. Annoyed, Virgil pushed back, hard. Howard went staggering backwards into one of his guys and they both fell. "I don't think you understand, Howard. I'm not afraid of you. Why should I be afraid of a coward who will only confront one person when he's got all his friends to help him?"

Blake came close to take a swing at Virgil, but Virgil ducked and kicked Blake's legs out from underneath him. As two other guys came at him, he asked, "Really, guys?" He took hold of one guy's arm as he threw a punch and gave it more momentum, and when the boy staggered past him, he kicked his butt and sent him down to the ground. The other got in a punch to Virgil's stomach, which didn't feel nice but also didn't stop him from kicking the guy in the chest and sending him sprawling over a trashcan.

"Now I know you guys aren't all that bright, but you're _really_ stupid when it comes to picking fights. I hope you'll exercise more caution in the future." Virgil said smoothly, adjusting his bag and walking away from the alley. He didn't look back.

Richie could tell something had happened when Virgil met up with him. "You in a fight, V?"

"How did you know?"

"You've got dust on your shirt and you smell sweaty before the sun is really up and going." Richie replied.

"Yeah. Howard and his goons wanted to send a message to me for yesterday. I sent them a message of my own." Virgil said, unable to keep a bit of the pride and macho he was feeling from his voice.

"Just be careful. If someone would take note that your hand-to-hand style is the same as Static's rarely-used moves, it would be easy to put things together."

"Yes, Mom." Virgil said, rolling his eyes. "I'll keep a lid on my fists of fury."

"Wiseass." Richie said.

(-)

Virgil had barely opened his locker to put his stuff away when Francis approached him. "Hey, Virgil, you...?"

Virgil blinked at Francis and Francis gawked at him. "What?" Virgil wondered. He felt very self-conscious all of a sudden.

"Nothing." Francis said, face smoothing into neutrality.

"So...saw you on the news this morning. Is that why you stormed out of Burger Fool? Your Bang-Baby senses told you there was danger and you went to stop a mugging?" Virgil asked.

Francis snorted. "Don't be stupid."

Virgil waited for more, but didn't get it. "So you want to tell me the actual reason you stormed out?"

Francis's face was slightly pink as he replied, "You're different."

Virgil raised an eyebrow, trying to look supremely skeptical. "And this made you angry?"

"I wasn't expecting it. And uh...thanks for the food yesterday." Francis said. He made a hasty exit before Virgil could respond.

Virgil growled. "The hell is wrong with that guy? You would think it hurt for him to speak."

"Maybe it does when he's talking to you." Daisy suggested from behind him. Virgil jumped like a spooked cat. "Hey, calm down. Just me."

"I'm kinda on edge lately." Virgil said by way of excuse.

"I think I noticed." Daisy said, stifling her grin.

"It's not funny!" Virgil protested. "I think I'm grinding my teeth at night, and I'm practically pulling my hair out over that guy during the day!"

Daisy looked surprised at the admission. "Why? I mean, you can back out on being his study-buddy whenever you want."

"I don't know. Maybe I feel sorry for him. He missed so much school that he's nearly buried under all the catch-up work, and I think if I wasn't helping him, he'd give up and go back to wreaking havoc." Virgil said with a sigh.

Daisy smiled at him. "You're not a super-hero, Virgil. It isn't up to you to save everyone."

"Good point." Virgil said, grinning bitterly at the hidden humor in her statement. "You can help him."

"Do I look crazy?" Daisy asked. She smiled and shook her head. "I'm going to class."

Another sigh escaped Virgil. Richie had already headed to class, wanting to talk to someone before it started, and Virgil felt pretty lonely at that moment. He trudged towards class, thinking things couldn't get more disconcerting than this.

(-)

"This is bullshit!" It was Francis's voice. Virgil was at his locker after school and, this being a tutoring day, Richie had already headed out to patrol. He quietly closed his locker and edged closer towards the chemistry classroom that Francis's voice was drifting out from.

"It's your grade, Mr. Stone." came the flat voice of Mr. Benson, the chemistry teacher.

"It's you holding a fucking grudge!" Francis growled. "I started a fire in chem lab. Once. I didn't even do serious property damage. And that was then! This is now!"

"But you did burn a lot of toxic and expensive chemicals that we didn't have the budget to replace." Mr. Benson replied, his voice sounding firm. Virgil took that as confirmation of Francis's accusation.

He tried to look casual as he walked by the door and spotted Francis. "Hey, Francis, I was just looking for you. What's going on?"

Francis still looked dangerously angry, but he spat out, "He gave me an F I didn't deserve on my homework. And he won't make it right because he doesn't like me."

Virgil tried to sound reasonable as he said, "You got an F on that worksheet? But I went through that with you; let me see where I misled you."

Mr. Benson looked like he might be ill as Virgil picked up the paper and examined it. Francis was right. He had worked hard, with many erasings and rewritings evident, and he had the right answers. "Mr. Benson, it looks okay to me. Can you show me where he got it wrong?"

A sigh escaped the teacher and he took the paper from Virgil. "Let me recheck it."

After a few moments of scribbling, Mr. Benson said, "I must have graded this late at night. I make more mistakes then."

"So it wasn't wrong?" Virgil asked.

"No. Here's your grade."

Francis held his re-marked A paper and looked a little awed. "Well, Francis, we should get going so we can get things done. You have lots of work to do." Virgil reminded him, gently holding his arm and giving it a light tug.

Francis followed him out of the classroom, and when they were out at their usual table in the courtyard, he asked, "Why do you keep doing that?"

Virgil blinked at him. "Doing what?"

"Sticking your neck out for me. Defending me. It's not like I need it." Francis said, a visible pout on his face.

"Because it's not like you were going to _fry_ those bullies or that chem teacher." Virgil said dryly.

"That's my point! I _can_ fry them, so I don't need you stepping in all the time!" Francis growled.

"That's _my_ point! You _would_ fry them and go to jail, and I think that's something you want to avoid."

"Why do you think that?" Francis demanded.

Virgil gave him a flat look. "I heard that you turned yourself in and did your time willingly. You saved that woman on the news from the mugger. You're at school and working to pass your classes. It's obvious you want to change."

Francis frowned fiercely at him. Then he seemed to pause, and he squinted hard at Virgil, trying to make a decision. He at last said, "Let's just get all this brainy crap done." He pulled out his bookbag and looked for his latest assignment.

"You didn't contradict me."

"I don't know what that is...and shut up!" Francis demanded.

"I meant you didn't tell me I was wrong." Virgil said, fighting down a laugh at Hotstreak's defensive and pathetic come-back.

"You know, Hawkins, you're really making me remember why I used to enjoy beating you up so much." Francis said.

Virgil frowned, and that made Francis smile. "You still haven't told me I'm wrong." Virgil pointed out stubbornly.

Francis started writing his name at the top of an assignment and didn't look at Virgil. "So...have Howard and his loser friends given you any trouble?"

Virgil blinked at the sudden change of topic. "Um, no, not really."

"Because I saw them looking pretty pounded today. I thought you might have fought back when they tried to beat you up." Francis said, and for all the casual air, Virgil could hear the unspoken accusation/question.

He couldn't be sure this was about Static. But he couldn't be sure it wasn't. Either way, it sounded like Francis had already guessed the truth. "Well, they tried to jump me, but they weren't very smart about it and I got away. Maybe they got into another fight on their way to school?"

Francis raised one eyebrow in question. "So their beat-up condition is completely unrelated to you?"

Virgil tried to laugh. "Are you suggesting that I took on all five of those guys by myself and came out unscathed?"

Frowning, Francis shook his head. "I guess not. Even if you could pull something like that off, you would have a lot of wounds to show for it."

Virgil made a non-committal noise, not wanting to agree since he knew it wasn't true. "Anyway, is that your history assignment you've got there?"

"Yeah. Have to write a short essay on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln." Francis grumbled.

"Did you read about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln?" Virgil asked.

"Most of it. I need to finish another paragraph or two." Francis admitted.

"Okay, you can finish those and then we'll talk about Abe getting capped." Virgil said, grinning.

Francis gave him a dry look as he pulled out his textbook. He found the page and started reading. Virgil watched him concentrate. Francis wasn't bad at reading, he just didn't have a lot of practice. He had a smaller vocabulary than he might have had if he read more, but he was correct in saying he wasn't stupid. More like under-educated. And he was working hard to fix that.

Eyes sliding sideways to glance at Virgil, Francis said, "Hey, can you not stare?"

Virgil frowned, face warming. "I'm not staring. I'm spacing out."

"Well, can you space out in a different direction?" Francis said.

Virgil felt amused somehow at Francis's irritation. "Why would my looking at you upset you?"

"I'm not upset!" Francis growled. As Virgil's eyebrows climbed higher on his face, Francis grinned and added, "And I know I'm hot as Hell; you don't have to be _ashamed_ for staring."

Virgil was glaring at Francis now. "You hitting on me?"

Francis frowned fiercely at Virgil, no longer amused. "Hell no!"

"Strange, cause that sounded rather homosexual, and since there's nothing on this end, I can only assume that _you're_ the one with something going on." Virgil said, his eyes narrowed, though his tone was casual as he shrugged.

"You callin me gay, Hawkins?" Francis asked dangerously.

"I'm saying you might not want to make those remarks if you don't want them misinterpreted as expressing interest." Virgil told him.

The tension between them was heavy, and Francis just kept staring at Virgil with a very intense and unnerving look in his eye. "If I wasn't reformed, I'd give you some nice burn marks for that, Hawkins."

"If I wasn't a forgiving guy, I'd leave you to study by yourself."

"Well then aren't I lucky you're so _forgiving_?" Francis said, a slight sneer in his tone.

"How lucky am I that you're 'reformed'?" Virgil replied evenly.

Francis went back to reading his textbook. Virgil leaned on his elbow and looked away from Francis. His heart was beating hard and he wasn't certain that all of it was rage. If they hadn't both got angry, that conversation would have been awkward, and embarrassing as Hell. Virgil tried to quiet the voice that suggested it might have also been intriguing. He didn't need to think about that kind of thing.

(-)

**Well, I guess I'll end this chapter here. Sorry if the chapters are getting shorter, I'm just trying to keep them stopping naturally. Hope the fight scene wasn't lame or anything. I don't write many fight scenes. Please review, this is a fairly unpopulated fandom, so any opinions or suggestions would be _greatly_ appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Can haz fourth chapter.**

(-)

This was bad. Really bad. A fight with Ebon in a dark alley in the bad part of town in the middle of the night was a crazy proposition to begin with. But add in Ebon bringing something along to generate electromagnetic pulse waves to fry Backpack and all of Gear's gadgets, a bucket of water dropped on Static from above by Shiv, and this was a complete disaster. Now they were trapped in the middle of the alley, a swirling vortex of darkness behind them, a blade-handed maniac blocking their means of escape.

Richie wasn't too much help since feedback from Backpack shorting out had flashed into his thoughts and left him stunned, incoherent, and all but unconscious. "So, Hero, how can you win now?" Ebon taunted.

"Let's see how your buddy looks with a few less limbs." suggested Shiv.

Static moved between Shiv and Richie, powerless but defiant. "You aren't touching Gear."

"More like slicing." Shiv agreed.

Of course, just then a pillar of fire hit Shiv's back and knocked him over the heroes and into Ebon's vortex. Ebon growled angrily, his neck stretching as his head went forward to see the source of the flames. "Hotstreak. Heard you were going vigilante but I didn't believe it."

Static looked up. Francis stood at the mouth of the alley now, body wreathed in flames that's flickering light made Ebon's head shrink back to the vortex. "Hiya, Ebon. Been a while." Hotstreak said casually.

"Leave this alone. I got business with the hero that has nothing to do with you!" Ebon said firmly.

"I don't know." Francis said, mock uncertainty in his tone. "I'm new to this, but I think if I'm a supposed 'good guy' and you're a definite 'bad guy' I believe I'm supposed to step in and save the day here."

"I'm not playing around, Hotstreak. Go before this gets ugly." Ebon's voice was low and dangerous.

"Nah. Sometimes I enjoy having a bit of ugliness in my night." Hotstreak said flippantly. He knew Ebon was fronting. Hotstreak could hit him with fire, which not only burned, but was also a source of light. He knew Ebon didn't like messing with him.

"Explains why you hang with Static, I guess." Ebon practically purred. "You seem to have a soft spot for Hero-boy. Is that why you straightened your laces? So you could have a bit of _him_ in your night?"

Francis didn't reply, just sent a huge beam of fire directly into Ebon, causing the vortex to convulse and shrink away. When the shadow had left, Francis muttered, "Motherfucking prick needs to watch his goddamn mouth."

"So, um thanks for the rescue, but I need to get Gear someplace safe." Static said, getting up slowly as he tried to support Richie's weight as well as his own. He was not going to mention anything Ebon said. If he pretended he hadn't heard, maybe Hotstreak would do the same. Besides, Ebon was known for talking shit and spreading seeds of discord amongst the good guys. Virgil halted at that thought. Was Francis a good guy now?

Francis took Richie's other arm and asked, "Where to?"

Static just stared at him. "No offense, but if I take him home, you'll know who he is. If I take you to HQ, you'll know where we kick it with our disguises off."

Francis frowned at him. "I don't know how far your 'HQ' or his house is from here, but I'm betting you'll have a hard time carrying him that far."

Virgil sighed. "Yeah, but I'm not giving up my identity, or his."

A long-suffering sigh escaped Francis as he reached down and picked up Richie's legs so he was holding him bridal style. "If you don't trust me, I can at least get him to a better neighborhood and you can take him from there."

Static blinked at Francis. He wasn't sure how to take that. It made him feel a little ashamed at his mistrust. "Thank you." he said quietly.

As they walked, there was silence for a long while after that, broken only when Richie started to come to. The fact that he was being carried by Hotstreak when he woke added to his disorientation and panic.

"Hotstreak!" Gear yelped as he met the red-head's eyes. He started to struggle and Francis rolled his eyes and set the boy down on his feet.

"Static, where-?" Richie began before he swung around to see Virgil watching him with a small amused smile.

"Hey, Gear, how are you doing?" Virgil asked as Backpack began making various noises and shifting around on Richie's back.

"Okay. My head is still kinda muddled. Remind me to install surge protectors on all my stuff that syncs with my thoughts." Richie said with a groan.

"Um, sure. If you can do that." Static said with a shrug.

"So...Hotstreak...?" Gear prompted.

"He saved us." Static said. "And he was going to carry you closer to HQ."

"You're welcome." Francis said to Gear, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Richie said belatedly, turning to give Francis a sheepish grin.

"So, I assume now you'll fly off and make sure I don't follow you to wherever?" Francis wondered.

"I'm still soaking wet." Virgil said.

"I don't think I want to test my flying skills when I'm this dazed." Richie agreed.

Francis couldn't stop a little smile from briefly appearing on his face, though he subdued it quickly enough. "Well, I suppose I'll walk with you till we're closer to whatever destination you have, and we'll part ways."

"Sounds like a plan." Virgil said with a shrug.

"If you keep saying it like that, maybe eventually we'll believe it." Richie said dryly.

Francis raised an eyebrow in question. Richie clarified, "Sometimes Static's plans are a little lacking for my tastes."

"What the hell does that mean?" Francis wondered.

"It means I don't have flow charts and diagrams and written mission statements and stuff." Virgil said with a grin.

"And holograms. Gotta get some holograms." Gear agreed.

Hotstreak frowned at them. He seemed troubled, and Virgil wondered why. "You okay, Hotstreak? Don't tell me a couple of beams of fire wore you out."

Francis rolled his eyes. "You wish. I'm tougher than that."

"Then what?"

"I don't have to tell you anything." Francis said defensively, crossing his arms.

Richie gave Virgil a questioning look. Evidently he had decided that Virgil was Hotstreak's handler. "No, you don't. You just seem kind of bothered."

"And what's it to you?" Francis demanded.

"Well, if we want to work together, shouldn't we at least be on quasi-friendly terms?" Virgil asked.

"Quasi-wha?"

"Has some of the features of friendship." Virgil clarified.

Francis frowned deeply, looking thoughtful. "What features?"

Virgil raised a supremely incredulous eyebrow. "Does it matter? Whatever ones develop, whatever ones fit. Like you just saved Gear and me, if you got into trouble, we'd be like, 'Guess we better save Francis.'"

Francis blinked at him. "You used my name."

Virgil blinked. "Yeah, so?"

"So you haven't used my real name since before I torched the park." Francis said.

"And...?" Virgil prompted.

A frown creased Francis's face at that. "Nevermind."

Virgil thought he saw a bit of embarrassment and resentment in Francis's face. Which made him reconsider his outright dismissal of what Ebon had said. It still wasn't really something Virgil would bet on, but he now had to admit that it might be a possibility. He wanted to tell Richie about it once they were alone, but something, possibly embarrassment, also made him want to keep it to himself.

"So...Hotstreak. What's your favorite food?" Richie asked, trying to break the awkward silence that had gathered.

Both Francis and Virgil looked at Richie, obviously wondering what the hell he was up to. "Why do you want to know?" Francis wondered.

Richie shrugged, trying to seem harmless. "I don't know. Just making conversation."

Francis looked at him for a moment then said, "Chili," before quickly looking away.

"Figures." Static said with a grin.

"What's your favorite food then, Static?" Francis demanded with a sneer.

"Hmmmm...probably the Ultimate Fool."

"You mean the supreme burger at Burger Fool? Doesn't that come with a trip to the hospital after you have a heart attack?" Francis asked, snorting.

"I have arteries of iron." Virgil told him gravely.

"If you don't watch what you eat, they'll be bullet proof." Francis said.

"Even better!" Virgil said with a grin.

Another snort came from Francis as he shook his head, a small smile growing on his face. They walked in a surprisingly comfortable silence for a while after that, until Gear said, "We should probably part ways here."

Francis shrugged and headed back towards the seedier neighborhoods. "Hey, Hot-uh, Francis!" Virgil half-shouted. "Thanks again for the rescue."

An improbably grin spread on Francis's face and he said, "Yeah, yeah..."

He turned and continued walking away, and Gear asked, "What was that about?"

Virgil frowned. "What was what about?"

Richie gave him a calculating look. "You purposefully used his name rather than his Bang-Baby handle, and thanked him again."

"So...?" Virgil asked, trying not to sound defensive or uncertain. He failed pretty miserably at both.

"So what happened to being cautious and suspicious?" Richie demanded.

"Aw, come on! He majorly saved our asses. I think that merits a little trust." He momentarily considered mentioning what Ebon had said, but dismissed it. He would wait until he came to a bit more decisive conclusion.

"I don't know, V. This whole thing is way too weird." Richie insisted.

"Yeah." Virgil grudgingly agreed. "It is _really_ weird."

(-)

A week later, Virgil was almost getting comfortable with his studying with Francis, and occasional brushes with Hotstreak as Static. It wasn't common, but Hotstreak had come in for an assist on a couple of occasions where it had been very badly needed.

Hotstreak hadn't done anything especially suspect when talking to Static so far. Although he was a bit more unpredictable with Virgil. But then, maybe he just didn't feel like he needed to be so well-behaved in front of Virgil. Because Virgil didn't have super-powers.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before more trouble broke out at school. Virgil was in Chemistry with Richie when the fire alarm went off. They exchanged a glance as they followed their classmates out of the building.

Outside, Virgil didn't see Francis anywhere, and it made him pretty certain that Francis was involved somehow with the surprise fire drill. When the alarm was turned off and everyone filed back inside, Virgil nodded to Richie and slipped away from the rest of their classmates. He headed towards the principal's office, figuring Francis would have been taken there if he had caused a fire.

He heard Francis before he had reached the principal's door. "Look, if I burn shit, I own up to it. So if I tell you that I didn't start that fire, _I didn't start that fire. _ For fuck's sake, I was on the other side of the room from those textbooks! It's not pyrokinesis, I have to throw that shit! Someone would have seen me!"

"Mr. Stone, please sit down." the principal's voice rumbled.

"I'm tired of being treated like the bad kid when I haven't done anything!" Francis protested with a growl.

Virgil took a deep breath. This would be sticking his neck out farther for Francis than he had yet. He knocked on the principal's door. "Come in."

He opened the door and stuck his head in before coming in and closing the door behind him. It was a little smoky in the office, and he assumed Francis had started smoking when he started to lose control of his temper. The principal had looked a little afraid at Francis when Virgil poked his head in, then he looked surprised to see Virgil. Francis saw him and let out a long sigh and shook his head before plopping down into the chair in front of the desk. The principal blinked at that.

"Um, Principal Agular, I was walking by and couldn't help overhearing. I don't think Francis would have started that fire." Virgil said.

Another telling blink from the principal. "And what makes you say that?"

"He's been working hard and going a long way to beat his rep. Why would he blow all that to start a random fire? If you said he had started burning things because he was angry I might find it more plausible, but if he wasn't provoked, I don't think he did this." Virgil said. He tried to sound as confident and reasonable as possible.

"Well, I appreciate your testimony as a character witness, Virgil, but the fact remains that Francis is the only one who could have started that fire."

"Is he? I don't know what class he was in, but I'll give you better than even odds that someone in that class smokes and might have a lighter on them. Francis doesn't have exclusive access to fire; he isn't Prometheus. You should _at least_ check the other kids."

"I suppose you _do_ have a point,Virgil. We'll give this further investigation. You can head back to class."

"Alright. Hey, Francis, are we working on History today?" Virgil said with his hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah, I have a couple of short essays on the Jim Crow laws. All about 'separate but equal' facilities and stuff. From what I can tell, it was a bunch of political bullshit." Francis said easily.

Virgil snorted. "I'm right there with you, man. I'll see you after school."

He left, and hoped that Principal Agular would make more of an effort to find out who really started the fire.

(-)

Virgil was scribbling notes for his own science homework when Francis sat down across from him at their table in the courtyard. Francis just stared at Virgil, not quite neutral, but not really showing what he was thinking either. Virgil thought it was the damnedest expression. "What?" he demanded.

"They found a lighter and a small bottle of some kind of accelerant in Blake Radford's bag. He was sitting right next to the books before they went up in flames." Francis told him.

"I assume they called the police?" Virgil asked casually.

"Yeah. It was weird. Cops showed up to arrest an arsonist, and I got to stand and watch rather than walk off in handcuffs."

Virgil couldn't help but grin at that. "See, there's some perks to walking the straight and narrow."

Francis snorted derisively. "Apparently. How do you do it?"

Virgil frowned. "Do what? Walk the straight and narrow?"

"Talk to adults and make them take you seriously. He wasn't listening to anything _I_ said."

"Oh. Well, being a well-behaved smart kid goes a long way towards convincing authority figures of something. Staying calm while you present rational arguments helps too."

A scoff came from Francis as he said, "I suppose I wasn't very calm."

"I would have thought someone was puffing a cigar in there if it hadn't smelled like smoke from your fire." Virgil agreed.

Francis blinked at him. "How do you know what my fire and smoke smell like?"

"You've threatened me with them on more than one occasion. Right after the Big Bang, I had a _very_ close encounter with your fireball. Not something I really forget." Virgil said. He hoped Francis would accept that answer and not pry further.

"I guess that's true." Francis conceded, but he didn't look or sound convinced.

"At least things turned out okay. It's good to have friends, right?"

Francis stared at him. "You?"

Virgil fought back a snort at Francis's incredulity. "Well no offense, Francis, but there isn't exactly a huge line in front of or behind me. I'm what you've got. Might as well call me a friend, right?"

Francis continued to stare rather blankly at Virgil. Virgil stopped fighting his laughter. That made Francis growl at him. "Oh, come on! You act like I just told you you have an hour left to live or something! It's a friendship, you know what that is?"

Francis scowled. "I guess. I saw the after-school specials when I was a kid. They always struck me as being bullshit sprinkled with fairy dust to lie to kids about how the world really is. I haven't really had friends."

"What about your big bully buddies you used to hang out with?"

"I don't know. It wasn't liked we talked about anything important, just stupid shit."

That made Virgil feel a little bad. He couldn't imagine growing up without Richie to talk to and share everything with. "That's one good thing about life. There's lots of people you haven't met yet, and sometimes you can still make friends with the ones you have met."

"Like with you." Francis concluded.

"Exactly."

Francis gave him that stare again, and Virgil felt nervous under that unreadable gaze. "What?"

"You're unreal." Francis said, shaking his head with a scoff.

"Unreal? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Too good to be true. You have to be hiding something." Francis said.

Virgil tried to stay calm and not break out in sweat like he felt he should. "Well, everyone hides things."

Francis smiled at that, for some reason. "I guess that's true. But it makes me curious as to what lurks underneath the good-school-boy facade."

"'Facade'? I didn't think you used words like 'facade'." Virgil said accusingly.

The smile widened into a grin as Francis replied, "Yeah, but Ms. Peach gave me a list of vocabulary words and told me to try and use them in my daily conversations. Before you know it, I'll be talking like you; all smart and shit."

Virgil sniggered a little at that. Francis frowned. "Hey, it can happen." he insisted, a bit of outrage in his tone.

"Well of course it can, but your phrasing was amusing. I don't doubt you, Francis."

Francis stared at him. Virgil thought that was getting old. "What now?"

"You said you didn't doubt me."

"Why yes, I did. You've shown me that you have enough potential to make something of yourself, if you want to. It's just up to you how far you'll go from here." Virgil said with a shrug.

Francis kept staring. "The fuck are you saying?"

"The hell is wrong with you?" Virgil demanded, using Francis's speech pattern just to be contrary.

"You just keep saying all this cheesy after-school special shit like you mean it. I don't understand." Francis insisted.

Virgil blinked in surprise. "Is it really so impossible that I might mean what I'm saying?"

"I guess it's possible, but it ain't likely."

"Francis, I'll be honest with you about you. If I think you're stupid, I'll tell you so. I don't think you're stupid." Virgil said.

Francis snorted. "Then what do you think of me?"

"I already told you and you said it was cheesy." Virgil huffed.

"No, not academically. As a person. I want to know what you really think of me as a person."

That seemed like there was more to it than simple survey or curiosity. "I haven't made up my mind yet." Virgil said, hoping it was a sufficient answer to stop that line of questioning.

"Fair enough." Francis said, nodding sagely, which Virgil thought looked wrong. Francis pulled out papers and books from his bag and said, "So, we were going to talk about racist bullshit?"

Virgil laughed. "Yeah, let's discuss racist bigots full of bullshit." He watched as Francis opened his book and thought that maybe Francis might become a better friend than he had originally assumed.

(-)

**Another slightly weird end spot, but what did you think? Plausible? Amusing? Ridiculous and absurd? Let me know. I need feedback if I'm going to make this better. ^_^**


	5. Chapter 5

***Edit is in closing commentary* Well, I hope the fourth chapter was pleasing to my readers.**

(-)

Virgil had taken his patrol on a swing through the seedier neighborhoods (specifically the ones where Francis seemed to inhabit and patrol) and found Hotstreak beating up a couple of guys while a kid, maybe 10 at the oldest, lay where he had fallen in the alley.

Hotstreak wasn't using fire, just muscle and anger. "The fuck do you think you are?" he demanded, kneeing one thug in the stomach. "He's a fucking kid!"

"Hey, Hotstreak!" Static called, flying in closer. "Either zip-tie them or let 'em go. Beating them to death isn't a solution."

Hotstreak looked up at him, surprised. Then he rolled his eyes and let the thug he was holding go. He gave the other one last punch in the face, and said, "Get the hell out of here. I see you picking on kids again, and I'll give you some nice burns to remember me by."

Both thugs scrambled away and Static flew in to land. Francis was already helping the kid up. "If you live around here, you should know you have to be careful about walking alone. You're a small guy, but if you use body language to walk confidently and act like you're strong and capable, thugs like that are less likely to think you'll make a good target." Francis was saying to the boy.

The boy looked small and afraid, and he held his backpack straps like a lifeline. "You're Hotstreak, right?" he asked, his voice very timid.

"Yeah." Francis said.

The boy hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "You're definitely my favorite super-hero."

Francis looked embarrassed by that. "Uh, thanks. What's your name?"

"Dario Kirkland."

"Well, Dario, I live in this area, so if you need help, I'll probably be near enough to hear you. I try to patrol as often as possible."

The boy grinned at him. "That makes me feel safer. I have to get home before Mom starts to worry."

Francis nodded at Dario before the boy ran off, and Static had walked close enough to say, "Well, that was really touching."

"Shut up." Francis said sullenly.

"I'm not making fun of you. You're becoming a role-model, Francis." Static said.

Francis looked at him. Then, apparently determined to ignore that comment, he said, "I have something I've been meaning to ask you."

Static leaned against the wall of the alley. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I heard Gear has been patrolling solo a lot these days. Where have you been?"

Virgil tried to keep his heart from beating so fast, and tried to stay calm as he said, "Personal stuff."

Francis raised his eyebrows at that. "Like what?"

Static frowned at him. "It's personal."

"So you and Gear are still together?"

"'Together'?" Static asked. That had sounded like Francis was implying something more than was there.

"Well, there's been speculation amongst a lot of your enemies as to whether you and Gear are going at it." Francis said with a shrug.

Virgil couldn't help the fluster that rose in him then. "What?" He became visibly agitated when he said, "Gear and I are not dating! We aren't even gay; who the hell started this rumor?"

Another shrug. "No one really started a rumor, a lot of Bang-Babies have just been wondering. I figured it was probably true."

"What?" Virgil demanded, outraged. "Why in hell would you think that?"

"You guys are really close, and you obviously care a lot about each other. And I don't know, it just seemed obvious that something was going on behind the scenes." Francis said.

"Well nothing is going on!" Static tried to calm himself before he attracted too much attention.

While Static was taking deep breaths, Francis just watched him. "Sorry if that made you mad. I just figured I'd ask."

"It was just a little sudden." Virgil fumed.

"I'm not a subtle guy. Besides, how would _you_ lead-in to a question like that?"

"What, how would I ask if you were gay?" Virgil wondered.

Francis nodded and Virgil thought about it. He was forced to come to the conclusion that there wasn't any terribly graceful way to work that question into a conversation. "Okay, maybe you're right about it not being easy. I'd probably just make a suggestive joke and see how you took it."

Francis looked thoughtful at that. "A joke like what?"

" I don't know. Something stupid like: 'If I asked you to blow me, would you kick my teeth in or get on your knees?'" Virgil was really embarrassed after he said that. He had _**no**_ idea what would have possessed him to make him say _that_.

A sly grin grew on Francis's face. "Are you asking?"

Virgil's eyes went wide and he was abruptly way too warm for comfort. "Uh, no. You asked what kind of joke I would use, and I gave you an example off the top of my head."

"The top of your head was pretty quick to insinuate yourself into that suggestion. I thought you'd do a 'hotdog or bun?' kind of thing." Francis said. "That would be something stupid. Your joke; however, was _highly_ suggestive about things going on between you and me in particular. It wasn't a broad question about my sexuality in general."

Wow, this just kept getting more and more embarrassing. "You're really getting annoying now, Hotstreak."

"Getting too close for comfort?" Francis asked with a grin. "Nevermind, Static, I won't make you answer me."

Virgil frowned. He was moving past annoyed and into pissed off. "You know, since you have this area covered so well, I probably don't need to stop by anymore. I'm sure you can handle it."

He quickly got on his disk and started flying away, despite Francis's "Hey, wait a second!" following after him. He did _**not**_ want to talk to Francis anymore right now.

(-)

Of course, at breakfast the next morning Francis was on the news again. "_...dragging their unconscious bodies away from the flames. The fire chief said the damage was minimal, and since the building was condemned, and there were warrants out for the street gang's arrest, they won't be pressing charges against Hotstreak._"

"Hold up." Virgil said, faltering as he reached for the juice. "What did Francis do now?"

Sharon looked at him flatly. "Your 'friend' charged into a building where some street gang was holed up and started a brawl. The building caught fire and he had to get them all out by himself because he had beat them all unconscious."

Virgil's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"I know, that's what I was thinking. That isn't very super-hero-ly of him."

"More like half-crazed vigilante." Virgil agreed. "I'll have to ask him about it today."

(-)

"Hey, Virgil, Richie." Francis said, leaning against a locker near Virgil's. He looked pretty rough. He had a partial black eye and the knuckles of his right hand were scraped, not to mention the various abrasions, bruises, and cuts decorating his other visible skin.

Before any more could be said, Richie interjected, "Hey, Virg, I've got someone to talk to, I'll see you in class." He squeezed Virgil's shoulder as he left.

"So the news made it sound like you went on a mini-rampage. What's up?"

"I was angry." Francis said shortly.

Virgil waited for more but didn't get it. "Uh-huuuh." Virgil said, voice highly skeptical. "So _what's up_?

Francis frowned. "Can't I just say hi? Is that so terrible?" he demanded.

"Are you still mad about whatever it was that made you start brawls and burn a building?" Virgil asked, feeling a bit threatened.

"Yeah. I just apparently have a talent for pissing people off and pushing them away." Francis growled. "I thought I would try to be friendly, but apparently that's just another facet of my repellant nature."

Instead of addressing Francis's statement, Virgil said, "'Facet' and 'repellant'. Good words. Guess those vocabulary lists are paying off, huh?"

Francis just looked at him, then said, "Yeah, I guess they are."

"So, you're having problems with a friend?" Virgil asked, thinking it wasn't the smartest topic to go into, but he wanted to know what was going on with Hotstreak. Maybe he would say something to Virgil that he wouldn't say to Static.

"Yeah. He basically said he didn't want to be around me anymore." Francis said quietly, looking both depressed and uncomfortable.

"Oh? Why did he say that?"

"I was teasing him too much, I guess."

"What were you teasing him about?"

Francis looked a bit embarrassed before he quietly said, "Well, I guess it was more flirty than just regular teasing."

Virgil's heart started to beat out of control. His eyes went wide, and he said, "Oh."

Francis blushed. "Don't make a bit deal out of it. It's nothing. I'm not really gay or nothing, just..."

When Francis couldn't seem to find any words, Virgil said, "It's cool. If you like someone, that's your business; I don't have a right to judge. And I won't tell anyone, if you don't want me to."

Francis looked considerably relieved at that. "Um, yeah, that'd be great. My friend didn't seem to appreciate my flirting, so I don't want to advertise to him, and I'd rather not have any people know about...it."

Virgil debated with himself for a moment before he said, "If he said he won't be wanting to see you, you'll probably have to go find him to apologize. If your friend is really your friend and any kind of reasonable, he'll be willing to listen to what you have to say."

Francis's eyebrows shot up and he looked surprised. "You think so?"

A shrug. "That's what I would do."

Grinning, Francis chucked Virgil on the shoulder and said, "Thanks, Virg. See you in English."

"Hey, Francis!" Virgil called after him. When Francis turned to look back at him, Virgil said, "Don't go on rampages. You'll get hurt."

Francis grinned. "Maybe, but I can take it."

As the flamethrower walked away, Virgil felt surreal, like he has slipped into an alternate dimension when he wasn't looking. Just **too** _weird_.

(-)

Virgil was patrolling the city when Hotstreak caught his attention by blasting himself up from an alley onto the roof of a building. Virgil sighed and steered his disk towards the red-head. When he landed and put up his disk, he said, "You're lucky the fire chief didn't press charges. What the hell were you thinking?"

"Hello to you too." Francis said, rolling his eyes. "I was pissed off. I didn't really care."

"And what was so upsetting that it was worth risking injury and/or jail?" Static demanded.

"Take a wild guess, Static."

"What, you were mad because I told you that you were capable of handling your own territory?"

Francis frowned in an almost enraged manner. "That may have been what you said, but that wasn't what you were saying! You were saying you didn't want to be around me anymore! I'm not stupid, I understood that."

"And this upset you?" Virgil asked, putting as much skepticism into his voice as he could. If Static was exactly as understanding as Virgil, Francis might see the similarity between the two.

"Of course!" Francis growled. Then he became abruptly shy. "I was pissed off because I didn't mean to piss _you_ off. I just wanted to...tease you. I'm...I'm sorry."

Talk about after-school specials. Francis wasn't dragging his toe on the ground nervously, but it was the same kind of guilty-kid nervous tension going through him as he waited on a reply. Virgil exhaled deeply, careful not to snort like he felt like doing. "It's cool, Hotstreak. I probably overreacted."

"So...you aren't going to avoid me?" Francis asked. The unspoken "and not come to my neighborhood" was understood.

"No. And I'm sorry my stupid joke was more suggestive than stupid." Virgil heard himself saying.

Francis grinned at him. "I never said I didn't like the joke."

Static felt very warm and uncomfortable again, and he wasn't sure how to respond to that. Francis saved him the trouble by adding, "And if you ever feel a pressing need to get an answer to that question, feel free to ask." He was grinning like ice cream wouldn't melt in his mouth, although Static felt sure it would melt faster than it would for normal people.

"Uh, sure, whatever." Static said, then quickly changed the topic. "I'm thinking we might get you a Shock Box. Just in case you get in a situation you can't or _shouldn't_ handle alone. I'll have to run the idea past Gear, but if he's okay with it, you'll be able to call for backup when you really need it."

"You haven't asked Gear? He probably won't like that idea." Hotstreak said.

Static frowned. "Why?"

"Because he'll be jealous. He won't have you all to himself anymore."

"What are you implying, Francis?"

"Just that he's used to being your only super-hero partner. I don't think he'll appreciate me."

"But you're not saying something."

"You didn't appreciate my sentiments last time."

Virgil groaned. "Not this again. I'm _not_ dating Gear!"

"Even if that's true, I'm sure there's more going on than just friendship. He has at least a little something for you." Francis asserted.

"Why? Why does he have to like me?" Virgil demanded.

"I've seen him around you. There's something in the way he looks at you. And...why _wouldn't_ he like you?"

Virgil went very still. "Why would you say something like that?"

Francis snorted. "Because there's plenty of aspects of you to like. Don't play dumb."

"You're still not saying something." Virgil insisted.

"Fuck, you want me to say it?" Francis groaned. He was blushing. Virgil waited. "Fine. I really like you. Is that enough for you? Because implying I would give you a blowjob is apparently too subtle."

Virgil was very warm, and though he longed to squirm in nervousness, he kept himself still. "This won't unmask me. I won't let you."

A sigh slipped out of Francis as he shook his head. "You think this is about _that_?" he demanded. Then, after a moment to think, he amended, "I suppose it _is_ related, but not the focus. It might be kinda hot to bang you with the mask on. You don't have to take it off."

"Francis!"

"What? If you think I'm so manipulative that I would feign interest in you just to get close enough to unmask you, you really don't know me." Francis said stubbornly, and not without a hint of anger.

Now Virgil felt guilty. He did know better. But Francis just kept flooring him, and he had no idea what he was supposed to say. "Sorry. I'm at a bit of a loss here."

"Psh, join the club. I'm president." Hotstreak said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. When I started having dreams about fucking Static, I thought I was losing it. I mean, we both know it sounds crazy." Francis said. Virgil half-shrugged, which earned him a raised eyebrow.

"So the day when you torched the park...?" Virgil prompted.

"I woke up from a...slightly different dream." Francis said, the blush returning to his face. "It was more like...making love? Some sappy shit like that."

"And it made you want to destroy things? I'm flattered at your affectionate gesture." Virgil drawled.

"Shut up! I don't do that kind of thing. I shut down the sappy weak part of me years ago. But you started to bring it back!" Francis growled.

"So sorry to inadvertently make you feel." Virgil said, sarcasm clear in his voice.

"You should be." Francis pouted.

Static started laughing. He couldn't help it. It was all so ridiculous, and the pout on Francis's face was fairly adorable, which was even more ridiculous. Francis growled, not liking the feeling of being mocked, and he took hold of Static's arms and pulled him close. He swallowed nervously once before he kissed him.

It wasn't a long kiss, or a forceful kiss. It was actually so gentle that it made Static want to melt. Which was weird. Other reactions his body was having were even more confusing. But Francis stopped the kiss before things got too intense.

"Jerk." Francis accused, letting Static go. "Make me feel like this and then laugh at me."

Static's voice was only mostly steady as he replied, "Wasn't laughing at you."

They just looked at each other for a few endless uncomfortable moments before Francis prompted, "I think this is the part where you shoot me down or say _something_ in reply to my stupid confession."

"I suppose it is, but I don't know what to say." Static admitted.

Francis blinked. "Uh, I thought 'not in a million years' would be your pretty easy and immediate response."

Static shrugged, embarrassed. "I don't know."

"Really? You don't?" Francis asked incredulously.

Another shrug. "Well, I guess there's no hurry." Francis said. "I've waited a while, I can wait a while longer. I just figured that once you knew, everything would be over, and I'd...be alone again."

Rolling his eyes, Static said, "Glad to know you think I'm such a shallow flake."

"That's not what I think!" Francis protested. "It's just...awkward."

"It isn't that bad." Static said. "Yes, pretty awkward, but there are worse things that could come between us; that's for sure."

"I guess." Francis murmured.

"For instance, betrayal, murder, larceny, and the like."

Francis watched him for a moment, then told him, "Did you know that Ebon has a large reward for anyone who can hand you to him, be it via your identity or actual physical delivery?"

A chill went through Virgil at the calm statement. "No. Is that a threat?" he asked quietly.

"A warning." Francis corrected him. "Even if saying it means I never unmask you...I don't want you caught off guard and taken to him. I...I don't want you hurt."

Static wasn't certain what to say to that. He took the easiest response (to brush past that remark) and said, "Well, if he is after me, at least I have you and Gear to watch my back, right?"

Francis grinned. "Yeah, that you do."

And just when Virgil thought they had gotten past the sap, Francis grabbed his hand and pulled him in close. He looked into Static's eyes, and Virgil felt naked under the intense scrutiny of that gaze. "Can I kiss you?" Francis asked.

The question was ridiculous and embarrassing and awkward and Static found himself nodding. Francis kissed him again, with more fervor, more hunger. Virgil felt like he was drowning in it, which was an odd metaphor to use with Hotstreak but still felt accurately descriptive.

They broke apart for air, and Francis looked very pleased indeed. "Not bad for not being kissed before."

Static started. "What? Why do you say that?"

"I could tell when I first kissed you. And this time it was pretty evident as well."

Virgil felt highly embarrassed. "I haven't had much time to date."

A near-purr came from Francis as he told Static, "I'll be more than willing to help get you up to speed. All you have to do is ask."

Then the pyromaniac walked to the edge of the building and jumped down into the alley. Virgil was concerned until he heard Francis using his flames to slow his descent. Then he just stood alone on the rooftop, feeling very confused and alone.

(-)

**Well, I finished that. Too sappy? There's more to come. But the next chapter involves a bit of RichiexVirgil, and I was wondering what your opinion on that would be? Short little episode, then move on, or a greater complication and weaves itself into the rest of the story. (I like the second option.)**


End file.
